George Baldwin (diplomat)
Encyclopedia
George Baldwin was a British merchant, writer and diplomat of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries whose career was principally based in Egypt
, where he established valuable trade links for the East India Company
and negotiated directly with the Ottoman governors. Despite repeated warnings of the importance of Egypt to links with British India, his advice was ignored and thus when Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt in 1798 the British were ill-placed to respond directly. In 1801 he assisted the British counter-invasion of Egypt and later returned to Britain with his wife Jane Maltass, a famous society beauty. Although a highly successful merchant and diplomat, Baldwin found himself a subject of ridicule on his return to Britain for his belief in the healing power of magnets
, then widely considered a pseudoscience
. He retired to Earl's Court in London
and died there in 1826.
, where he was consul-general and three years later was sent to Acre
. During his trading operations in the Eastern Mediterranean, Baldwin became increasingly aware of the political and commercial structures of the Middle East
, and in 1768 traveled to Britain to seek permission to investigate the possibilities of trade running from British India across Egypt
via the Red Sea
. Although this route was nominally blocked off to non-Muslims, developing trade would be possible if it brought profit to the rulers of Egypt. On his brother's death, Baldwin returned to the Mediterranean and took up his post on Cyprus. In 1773, Mehmed Bey summoned him to Cairo
and encouraged British shipping to use Suez
, declaring that he would cut a canal from Suez to the Nile
for ships to pass directly from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. He was also well received in Constantinople
.
In 1774, Baldwin returned to Cairo and then back to England, where he learned that the East India Company
had successfully begun a trade route between India and Suez. Offering his services to the Company, Baldwin was accepted and returned again to Egypt, where he was the only British merchant. With his knowledge of Arabic
he was able to monopolise British trade caravans passing from Suez to the Nile, and ensured a fast, safe and efficient service. At some point between 1776 and 1778 he was reported to have climbed the Great Pyramid at Giza and drunk a mixture of waters from the Nile, Ganges and Thames, symbolically linking the trade routes he managed. By 1779 his trade was so successful that it began to impinge on that of the Ottoman Sultan and of the Cape of Good Hope
, prompting protests and restrictions on his activities. In May one of his caravans was attacked and looted, with some merchants taken hostage. Baldwin exchanged himself for the merchants and later escaped, reaching Izmir
. Shortly afterwards he married Jane Maltass, the daughter of his agent and a famour society beauty. Although they had a daughter, the marriage was an unhappy one, punctuated by frequent arguments.
An attempt to set up in India ended in failure when Baldwin was assaulted and robbed en route, and he and his wife returned to Britain, pausing in Vienna
where Jane was celebrated in society: a bust of her was made for Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
by Cerroschi and Count Wenzel Anton Kaunitz-Rietberg commissioned a full-length portrait. In London, she was painted by Joshua Reynolds
, William Pyne and Richard Cosway
. Baldwin became popular in society and became an acquaintance of William Blake
, who mentions him in one of his poems. It was his friendship with Cosway that led to his introduction into the field of magnetic therapy, the theory that megnetic force had healing powers.
While living in England, Baldwin wrote memoranda for the India Board of merchants, emphasising the importance of influence in Egypt to trade with India and the Middle East and the risk to British interests if France was allowed to dominate Egyptian trade. His advice was not taken up and no resources were deployed to the region until 1786, when a license was issued that allowed French merchants to make use of the Red Sea. In response, Baldwin was sent to negotiate similar licenses for British merchants and observe French activities. While there he deepened his interest in magnetic therapy, holding sessions with an Italian poet to investigate the effects of magnetism on the unconscious. When the French Revolutionary Wars
broke out between Britain and France in 1793, Baldwin was able to forward the message to the British government in India, which could then take action against French territories there. In 1796 he investigated unsuccessful French efforts to persuade the Egyptian rulers to allow French armies safe passage through their territory on their way to India.
Despite his efforts, the British government terminated his post in 1793, although the message did not reach him until 1796. Frustrated, Baldwin left Cairo and thus was not present during the Mediterranean campaign of 1798
, when a British force under Sir Horatio Nelson was unable to gain audience with the Egyptian government to warn of the impending attack, as they had no ambassador. When the French invaded Egypt, Baldwin left the country and travelled Europe before taking up residence in Florence
. After the Battle of Marengo he moved to Naples
and from there assisted with the planning of the British counter-invasion of Egypt and travelled with the army as a logistical officer, witnessing the successful campaign and securing local sources of supplies from his contacts in the country.
In May 1801 Baldwin returned to London and settled there, continuing his studies in magnetic theory, which by this time had been dismissed as pseudoscience
. As a result, Baldwin was ridiculed and although he published a number of works on the subject in 1801 and 1802, he did not write again until 1811, when his research was privately printed. He died in 1826 in Earl's Court and his art collection was sold at Christie's
in 1828.
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, where he established valuable trade links for the East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
and negotiated directly with the Ottoman governors. Despite repeated warnings of the importance of Egypt to links with British India, his advice was ignored and thus when Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt in 1798 the British were ill-placed to respond directly. In 1801 he assisted the British counter-invasion of Egypt and later returned to Britain with his wife Jane Maltass, a famous society beauty. Although a highly successful merchant and diplomat, Baldwin found himself a subject of ridicule on his return to Britain for his belief in the healing power of magnets
Magnet therapy
Magnet therapy, magnetic therapy, or magnotherapy is an alternative medicine practice involving the use of static magnetic fields. Practitioners claim that subjecting certain parts of the body to magnetostatic fields produced by permanent magnets has beneficial health effects...
, then widely considered a pseudoscience
Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
. He retired to Earl's Court in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and died there in 1826.
Life
Baldwin was born in May 1744 (although some sources give 1743), the son of hop merchant William Baldwin of Borough, London. Aged 16 he was sent to join his brother in CyprusCyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, where he was consul-general and three years later was sent to Acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
. During his trading operations in the Eastern Mediterranean, Baldwin became increasingly aware of the political and commercial structures of the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, and in 1768 traveled to Britain to seek permission to investigate the possibilities of trade running from British India across Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
via the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
. Although this route was nominally blocked off to non-Muslims, developing trade would be possible if it brought profit to the rulers of Egypt. On his brother's death, Baldwin returned to the Mediterranean and took up his post on Cyprus. In 1773, Mehmed Bey summoned him to Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
and encouraged British shipping to use Suez
Suez
Suez is a seaport city in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez , near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boundaries as Suez governorate. It has three harbors, Adabya, Ain Sokhna and Port Tawfiq, and extensive port facilities...
, declaring that he would cut a canal from Suez to the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
for ships to pass directly from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. He was also well received in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
.
In 1774, Baldwin returned to Cairo and then back to England, where he learned that the East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
had successfully begun a trade route between India and Suez. Offering his services to the Company, Baldwin was accepted and returned again to Egypt, where he was the only British merchant. With his knowledge of Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
he was able to monopolise British trade caravans passing from Suez to the Nile, and ensured a fast, safe and efficient service. At some point between 1776 and 1778 he was reported to have climbed the Great Pyramid at Giza and drunk a mixture of waters from the Nile, Ganges and Thames, symbolically linking the trade routes he managed. By 1779 his trade was so successful that it began to impinge on that of the Ottoman Sultan and of the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
, prompting protests and restrictions on his activities. In May one of his caravans was attacked and looted, with some merchants taken hostage. Baldwin exchanged himself for the merchants and later escaped, reaching Izmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
. Shortly afterwards he married Jane Maltass, the daughter of his agent and a famour society beauty. Although they had a daughter, the marriage was an unhappy one, punctuated by frequent arguments.
An attempt to set up in India ended in failure when Baldwin was assaulted and robbed en route, and he and his wife returned to Britain, pausing in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
where Jane was celebrated in society: a bust of her was made for Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
by Cerroschi and Count Wenzel Anton Kaunitz-Rietberg commissioned a full-length portrait. In London, she was painted by Joshua Reynolds
Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential 18th-century English painter, specialising in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy...
, William Pyne and Richard Cosway
Richard Cosway
Richard Cosway was a leading English portrait painter—more accurately a miniaturist—of the Regency era. He was a contemporary of John Smart, George Engleheart, William Wood, and Richard Crosse...
. Baldwin became popular in society and became an acquaintance of William Blake
William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
, who mentions him in one of his poems. It was his friendship with Cosway that led to his introduction into the field of magnetic therapy, the theory that megnetic force had healing powers.
While living in England, Baldwin wrote memoranda for the India Board of merchants, emphasising the importance of influence in Egypt to trade with India and the Middle East and the risk to British interests if France was allowed to dominate Egyptian trade. His advice was not taken up and no resources were deployed to the region until 1786, when a license was issued that allowed French merchants to make use of the Red Sea. In response, Baldwin was sent to negotiate similar licenses for British merchants and observe French activities. While there he deepened his interest in magnetic therapy, holding sessions with an Italian poet to investigate the effects of magnetism on the unconscious. When the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
broke out between Britain and France in 1793, Baldwin was able to forward the message to the British government in India, which could then take action against French territories there. In 1796 he investigated unsuccessful French efforts to persuade the Egyptian rulers to allow French armies safe passage through their territory on their way to India.
Despite his efforts, the British government terminated his post in 1793, although the message did not reach him until 1796. Frustrated, Baldwin left Cairo and thus was not present during the Mediterranean campaign of 1798
Mediterranean campaign of 1798
The Mediterranean campaign of 1798 was a series of major naval operations surrounding a French expeditionary force sent to Egypt under Napoleon Bonaparte during the French Revolutionary Wars. The French Republic sought to capture Egypt as the first stage in an effort to threaten British India, and...
, when a British force under Sir Horatio Nelson was unable to gain audience with the Egyptian government to warn of the impending attack, as they had no ambassador. When the French invaded Egypt, Baldwin left the country and travelled Europe before taking up residence in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. After the Battle of Marengo he moved to Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
and from there assisted with the planning of the British counter-invasion of Egypt and travelled with the army as a logistical officer, witnessing the successful campaign and securing local sources of supplies from his contacts in the country.
In May 1801 Baldwin returned to London and settled there, continuing his studies in magnetic theory, which by this time had been dismissed as pseudoscience
Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
. As a result, Baldwin was ridiculed and although he published a number of works on the subject in 1801 and 1802, he did not write again until 1811, when his research was privately printed. He died in 1826 in Earl's Court and his art collection was sold at Christie's
Christie's
Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...
in 1828.